Todays burning question

Have we found our LT of the future? Bakhtiari has quietly done an outstanding job filling in at tackle. Hey, im a firm believer of if it aint broke don't fix it... so wheres that leave two former 1st round picks? Bulaga and Sherrod? The offensive line has been in synch but i'm not in love with Barclay at RT. So who gets that spot?

I have no clue how good Sherrod can be but i think he should at least get a chance. Which leaves me with this question? Is it possible we will have not 1 but 2 former 1st rd. draft picks on the bench next year?? ouch..guess it makes for good depth if you wanna put a positive spin on it.

Thinking Barclay would keep a healthy Bulaga out of the lineup is not in the realm of possibility.

Bakhtiari has played reasonably well, but mostly in contrast to Newhouse's dismal play last season and relative to his draft status and the expectations coming in.

The question is whether they will go into camp with Bulaga at LT as was this year's plan, or put him back at RT.

One of the under reported and underrated stats, for both blockers and pass rushers, is 10 yd. penalty calls, against and for. They are worth at least 1/2 sack and and are frequent drive killers.

Some food for thought: Bakhtiari has been called for 5 holds and 1 face mask in 7 games. Bulaga was called for 10 holds (3 of which were declined) and 1 illegal use of hands in 37 games.

Sherrod? Who knows. He was pretty raw to begin with, and just starting to get the hang of it when he went down. His potential was based on the agility and the quick feet. After all this, can he build on the "dancing bear" potential for which he was drafted? Or muscle up and transform himself to an inside player if the agility is not there anymore? Nobody knows the answers to those questions at this point.

Bulaga will return to RT next season and Bakhtiari will continue at LT. EDS will get a new contract and continue on at center. Sitton and Lang will remain in their starting positions, possibly with new contracts each. As for Sherrod and any others, Thompson and McCarthy and Murphy will just need to adjust to the needs and depth they feel the team requires.
I just hope they do not go cheap and sell us short.

Bahk has been a pleasant surprise but let's remember that the bar was pretty low. He's also a rookie so the book hasn't been written on him yet. If he improves, he could be the LT of the future. However, he has given up 4 sacks, 2 hits and 12 hurries in 281 pass blocking snaps. That's actually a pretty poor ratio, especially when he's blocking for a QB of Rodgers' caliber. Again, I'm not saying the guy sucks. Just that he needs to show improvement before I'm willing to say he's the LT of the future.

If Sherrod can bring something like 1st round pass blocking talent then our best would be to put him at RT, move Lang to center, Bulaga to RG and keep the left side the same. Of course, we don't know what we have in Tretter yet either, so that's up in the air.

It seems clear though that Barclay can't be the long term RT. His pass blocking just isn't up to snuff.

Bakhtiari to me is either a RT or a G. He's been solid but not spectacular. Bulaga should be on the left side, Bakhtiari on the right, and let's be honest the whole line looks horrible AGAIN. Aaron is getting hit and sacked again, but it's coming more from the interior than the outside. We need to improve the interior next year, move Bakhtiari over and get Bulaga back

This is not a burning question, let alone today’s burning question: Bulaga is gone for the season so it is a question for next season at the earliest. What happens then? Nothing wrong with asking the question, just like there’s nothing wrong with wondering about which players the Packers will re-sign and which they won’t want to, or be able to, next spring. But for me, this season is exciting enough to command almost all of my attention. And this season, while Bakhtiari has struggled at times, we’re lucky he has made it possible for Newhouse to mostly watch from the bench.

Bahk has been a pleasant surprise but let's remember that the bar was pretty low. He's also a rookie so the book hasn't been written on him yet. If he improves, he could be the LT of the future. However, he has given up 4 sacks, 2 hits and 12 hurries in 281 pass blocking snaps. That's actually a pretty poor ratio, especially when he's blocking for a QB of Rodgers' caliber. Again, I'm not saying the guy sucks. Just that he needs to show improvement before I'm willing to say he's the LT of the future.

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Then again, for a ROOKIE he has had to face off against some damn good pass rushers. 49ers, Skins, Bengals, Lions, vikes all have good pass rushers coming off our left side. I think his biggest test will be monday night against Peppers and the bears. For his age, lack of NFL experiance and who he has faced off against so far, I think he has done a damn good job. Hell, if that had been Newhouse in there at LT so far, we might be minus a QB.

Then again, for a ROOKIE he has had to face off against some damn good pass rushers. 49ers, Skins, Bengals, Lions, vikes all have good pass rushers coming off our left side. I think his biggest test will be monday night against Peppers and the bears. For his age, lack of NFL experiance and who he has faced off against so far, I think he has done a damn good job. Hell, if that had been Newhouse in there at LT so far, we might be minus a QB.

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I agree, although I would say facing the Bengals pash rushers has been a bigger test than Peppers will be. That said, for a rook the boy has held up extremely well.

Then again, for a ROOKIE he has had to face off against some damn good pass rushers. 49ers, Skins, Bengals, Lions, vikes all have good pass rushers coming off our left side. I think his biggest test will be monday night against Peppers and the bears. For his age, lack of NFL experiance and who he has faced off against so far, I think he has done a damn good job. Hell, if that had been Newhouse in there at LT so far, we might be minus a QB.

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He gave up 2 sacks and 2 hurries to the Niners. That's not bad considering he's a rookie, but it's certainly not good. He did have a good game against the Redskins. Against the Bengals he gave up a sack, a hit and 4 hurries, that's bad. Against the Lions he gave up a sack, a hit and a hurry which is still not good. Lions have one good defensive end when it comes to rushing the passer (Willie Young) and he didn't line up against Bahk so that makes his performance look a little worse. Only gave up two hurries each against the Ravens and Browns, that's pretty good (Ravens is especially decent considering their OLBs). Jared Allen is still a decent pass rusher but he gets far more credit than he deserves now because of his history.

Overall, like i said, he's done well considering where he was drafted. However, I'm not willing to declare a guy that's allowed Rodgers to get sacked 4 times, hit twice and hurried 12 times in seven games. He's a rookie, his book isn't written. I'm just saying that his performance thus far has not made me feel that we have our left tackle of the future.

Also, I'm pretty sure that I mentioned he was a rookie in my second sentence so I'm not sure why you felt it necessary to emphasize it so greatly.

Bahk did a nice job against the Vikings last Sunday. I think things can only get better with more playing time. The players that have been cast into more and more playing time have really stepped up, and for the most part have been doing a good job. Sure there are hiccups, but not bad. Just my opinion.

I emphasized it for others that might read this, I know, you know, he is a rookie.....and he is going to make rookie mistakes. But given the current crop of pass rushers he has faced, and he has faced some darn good ones, he has held his own pretty well. Can he make improvements, yes, but that will come with experiance. I am betting that in this coming off season the kid packs on 15+ pounds of muscle and learns some new tricks. He has the look and is showing us that he could indeed be the LT of the future. For being slightly undersized and a rookie and being somewhat raw, he has amazed me. Has he held guys? YES, all O linemen do on every play, just some dont get caught. lol. His giving up hurries does not bother me for two reasons, 1 - Arod can throw on the run and avoid very well, 2- Arod causes the hurries by holding the ball to long sometimes.

He has faced premier pass rushers, especially in his first game. My tendancy would be not to rate him on a game-by-game basis but to look at the trend. Is he improving or getting overwhelmed. Without looking at stats, my eyes tell me that he's improving.

I won't declare LT of the future until this time next season, if at all. The league is full of players that had great first seasons and then declined from there. He's looking good for a rookie so far. I'm pleased.